Cleverness is a gift while kindness is achoice. Gifts are easy—they're given after all. Choices can be hard.

    I got the idea to start Amazon 16 yearsago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300percent per year. I'd never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, andthe idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was veryexciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I'd been married for ayear. I told my wife Mac kenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do thiscrazy thing that probably wouldn't work since most start-ups don't and I wasn'tsure what to expect. Mac kenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I'd been a garage inventor. I'd always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted meto follow my passion.

    I was working at a financial firm in NewYork City with a bunch of very smart people and I had a brilliant boss that Imuch admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a companyselling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park,listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea,but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a goodjob.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about itfor 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it was reallya difficult choice, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always behaunted (萦绕)by a decision to not try at all.

    After much consideration, I took theless safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice. For all ofus, in the end, we are our choice.

    There is a story about a man who lost his legs and left arm in an accident. After the accident, only a finger and thumb on his right hand remained.

    He was a brilliant, creative, and educated man. He had gained a lot of experience while traveling around the world, so he became very depressed after his accident. He was afraid that he would spend the rest of his life suffering and would no longer be able to spend his life in a meaningful way. Then, he realized that he still had partial function of his right hand and could still write even though it was very difficult. An idea occurred to him, “Why not write to other people who need encouragement?”

    He wrote to the prison ministry about sending letters to the prisoners. The prison minister replied, “Writing to the prisoners is acceptable, but your letters will not be answered.”

    Filled with excitement, the man knew he could write his letters. He began sending one-way messages of God's love, hope, strength, and encouragement. He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the limit. He poured his heart and soul into his words and shared his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.

    It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of a reply. One day he received a letter from the prison ministry. It was a short note from the officer who monitored and checked the prison mail.

    The letter said, “Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your letters are passed from room to room until they fall to pieces!”

    No matter what circumstances life may present, we all have unique experiences, abilities, and God-given talents. We can discover ways to reach others who desperately need messages of encouragement and strength.

    Why are certain people so memorable, while some fade from our memories over time? This question crosses my mind often; there are many possible answers. When you are raising children, you realize that some people become very important to them, draw them in, accept and respect them. These people change them.

    Several examples come to mind with my youngest son. He was always more comfortable around his dad's friends than his own. He loved to spend time with them, fish with them, listen to their stories and just be with them.

    He has experienced the loss of several really meaningful friendships over the past few years, and it has been very painful for him. One, Dr. George, was a neighbor and fishing buddy who would call to see if Ken could go fishing with him. Dr. George always said Ken was the son he never had and that it meant everything to him. He died very suddenly while fishing with all of his best buddies a few years ago. The huge hole that left in so many lives simply cannot be filled — for Ken it was immensely painful.

    There was another fishing buddy of his dad's, Frank, who was always fun to be around. Ken was very young then, but he really enjoyed getting along with ＂the guy＂ when they were fishing. Frank and his family went to the Keys in the same week as we did one year ago and the memory remains to this day. Cheerful and happy, he was able to laugh at himself and accept everyone's abilities or lack of them, all qualities that impressed Ken so much.

    When he became deadly ill, Ken drove from his home in North Carolina to Florida for an overnight visit with him. He died a short time later. The day after his funeral (葬礼), Frank came to Ken in a dream and asked if he would take care of his wife, Carol. To Ken this was very meaningful, and today they share a special bond that Frank somehow knew would be important for them both.

    The human brain remembers negative experiences more easily than positive ones. Our brains have developed this way because threats, like dangerous animals, had a more immediate effect on our ancestors' survival compared to positive things like food or shelter. As a result, you likely know what makes you unhappy, but do you know what makes you happy?

    Research suggests that our level of happiness depends partly on factors we cannot control—our genes and our life circumstances. But our level of happiness is also shaped by the choices we make. If you've been chasing wealth, fame, good looks, material things and power, you may be looking for happiness in all the wrong places. Psychologists suggest that the following habits make people happier.

    People who form close relationships tend to be happier than those who do not. The number of friends we have is not important. What matters is the quality of our relationships. Relationships that bring happiness usually involve the sharing of feelings, mutual respect, acceptance, trust and fun.

    People who exercise regularly improve both their physical and mental well being. Some research has shown that exercise can be as effective as medication in treating depression.

    When we are so interested in an activity we enjoy that we lose track of time, we are in a state of flow. The activity could be making art, playing piano, surfing, or playing a game. People who experience flow in their work or hobbies tend to be happier.

    People are more likely to be happy if they know what their strengths are and use them regularly, People who set goals and use their strengths to achieve them tend to be happier. People are especially happy when they can use their strengths to serve the greater good.

    People who think positively by being grateful, mindful and optimistic are more likely to be happy. Being grateful means being thankful, Bejing mindful means being open to, focusing on and enjoying the experiences of the present moment. Being optimistic means being hopeful about the future.

    Some of the world's biggest companies—Apple, Amazon, Facebook—didn't exist 30 years ago. So what firms are we working for in 2050? That's a question put forward by historian Yuval Noah Harari in his new book "21 Lessons for the 21st Century".

    He argues that because technology is changing so fast, it's one of the first times in human history when we don't know what jobs will look like in the coming three decades." So the best bet is to focus on emotional intelligence（EQ）," he said. "Information is the last thing the kids need. They have too much of it."

    In this book, he focuses on the various challenges facing us today. As he writes in the book's introduction: "What are today's greatest challenges? What should we pay attention to? What should we teach our kids?" One area where these questions crop up is artificial intelligence（AI）Harari believes that AI will completely affect the job market for the next generation of workers.

    His first two books—"Sapiens" and "Homo Deus"—became international bestsellers, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide. They were praised by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama and Bill Gates. Harari's books, about the past and future of humanity, attract a great number of fans. Fellow Israeli, actress Natalie Portman, is a fan. So is American R&B star Janelle Monae.

    As for Bill Gates, he might be Harari's biggest fan. So when the New York Times asked him to review Harari's latest books, he jumped at the opportunity. "All the three books wrestle with some version of the same question: What will give our lives meaning in the decades and centuries ahead?" Gates wrote in his review. "So far, human history has been driven by a desire to live longer, healthier, happier lives. If science is eventually able to give that dream to most people, and large numbers of people no longer need to work, what reason will we have to get up in the morning?"

Rosie, a first-year university student in Beijing, entered a classroom for her oral English exam and slid her topic across the table to Joe, a foreign teacher. My Story, it read. "In middle school, my classmates laughed at me for having deaf-mute parents," she began softly. "From that moment on, I decided not to tell anybody. But today…"

It's widely considered taboo(忌讳) in Chinese to discuss the details of an unhappy family life with anyone other than very close friends. However, as Joe has noticed, many Chinese students appear surprisingly comfortable discussing emotional moments from their lives when they speak with foreign teachers in a language different from their own.

"Speaking English," one of his Chinese students told him, "I feel like another person." When speaking Chinese, he is kind of reserved; in English class, he is more open. English, to the Chinese speaker, may be like a mask, creating a buffer(缓冲物)between speaking the truth and the listener's reaction. Students focus on how to speak rather than what is being said. If there's a misunderstanding, English can take the blame.

Another reason why Chinese students are more comfortable sharing their secrets during English class may be the distinct approach to teaching used by their foreign teachers. "I always try to come to each student, make eye contact, have a 20-second conversation and see how they are doing," Joe said. Classes taught by Chinese teachers, in contrast, are more formal. Many students said they had never been asked their opinion in class.

Rosie's English vocabulary is now extensive, but she still can't find the words to describe her feelings towards the English language. "English makes me feel I am different," she said. "English is beautiful."